Guided self-help treatments based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT-GSH) are regarded as a first-line effective treatment for bulimia nervosa (BN). With limited application for CBT-GSH in Japanese ...clinical settings, we conducted a single arm pilot study in order to confirm the acceptability and availability of CBT-GSH in Japan.
25 women with BN received 16-20 sessions of face-to-face CBT-GSH. Primary outcomes were the completion rate of intervention and abstinence rates from objective bingeing and purging as assessed by the Eating Disorder Examination. Secondary outcomes were other self-report measurements of the frequency of bingeing and purging, and characteristic psychopathologies of eating disorders. Assessments were conducted before CBT as baseline as well as after CBT. 92% (23/25) of the participants completed the CBT sessions. After CBT-GSH, 40% (10/25) of the participants (intention-to-treat) achieved symptom abstinence. The mean binge and purge episodes during the previous 28 days improved from 21.88 to 10.96 (50% reduction) and from 22.44 to 10.88 (52% reduction), each (before CBT-GSH to after CBT-GSH), and the within-group effect sizes were medium (Cohen's d = 0.67, 0.65, each). Our study provided a preliminary evidence about the feasibility of CBT-GSH in Japanese clinical settings for the future. Trial registration This study was registered retrospectively in the national UMIN Clinical Trials Registry on July 10, 2013 (registration ID: UMIN000011120).
Hypertrophic placenta, or placentomegaly, has been reported in cloned cattle and mouse concepti, although their placentation
processes are quite different from each other. It is therefore tempting to ...assume that common mechanisms underlie the impact
of somatic cell cloning on development of the trophoblast cell lineage that gives rise to the greater part of fetal placenta.
To characterize the nature of placentomegaly in cloned mouse concepti, we histologically examined term cloned mouse placentas
and assessed expression of a number of genes. A prominent morphological abnormality commonly found among all cloned mouse
placentas examined was expansion of the spongiotrophoblast layer, with an increased number of glycogen cells and enlarged
spongiotrophoblast cells. Enlargement of trophoblast giant cells and disorganization of the labyrinth layer were also seen.
Despite the morphological abnormalities, in situ hybridization analysis of spatiotemporally regulated placenta-specific genes
did not reveal any drastic disturbances. Although repression of some imprinted genes was found in Northern hybridization analysis,
it was concluded that this was mostly due to the reduced proportion of the labyrinth layer in the entire placenta, not to
impaired transcriptional activity. Interestingly, however, cloned mouse fetuses appeared to be smaller than those of litter
size-matched controls, suggesting that cloned mouse fetuses were under a latent negative effect on their growth, probably
because the placentas are not fully functional. Thus, a major cause of placentomegaly is expansion of the spongiotrophoblast
layer, which consequently disturbs the architecture of the layers in the placenta and partially damages its function.
A molecular peptide beacon was designed for fluorescence detection of IgG in a homogeneous assay. pH-triggered detection of IgG was demonstrated using a fluorophore-labeled peptide that incorporated ...a binding site in the Fc region of IgG with a complementary quenching site.
During limb regeneration adult tissue is converted into a zone of undifferentiated progenitors called the blastema that reforms the diverse tissues of the limb. Previous experiments have led to wide ...acceptance that limb tissues dedifferentiate to form pluripotent cells. Here we have reexamined this question using an integrated GFP transgene to track the major limb tissues during limb regeneration in the salamander Ambystoma mexicanum (the axolotl). Surprisingly, we find that each tissue produces progenitor cells with restricted potential. Therefore, the blastema is a heterogeneous collection of restricted progenitor cells. On the basis of these findings, we further demonstrate that positional identity is a cell-type-specific property of blastema cells, in which cartilage-derived blastema cells harbour positional identity but Schwann-derived cells do not. Our results show that the complex phenomenon of limb regeneration can be achieved without complete dedifferentiation to a pluripotent state, a conclusion with important implications for regenerative medicine.
Abstract
Monthly precipitation samples have been collected at Toki, Japan, from November 2013 to March 2017. In this report, selected data were analysed to identify the regional hydrogen and oxygen ...isotope compositions. Tritium (3H) concentration in the precipitation ranged from 0.10 to 0.61 Bq L−1 and higher 3H concentrations were observed in spring rather than in other seasons. This range was similar to values reported in Chiba City, Japan. 3H concentration and the ratio d-excess, and δD values were roughly clustered according to each separate season. These regional hydrogen and oxygen isotope compositions will be used for environmental assessments of effects of the deuterium plasma experiments of the large fusion test device.
We present the Kormendy and mass-size relations (MSR) for early-type galaxies (ETGs) as a function of environment at z ~ 1.3. Our sample includes 76 visually classified ETGs with masses 10 super(10) ...< M/M sub(middot in circle) < 10 super(11.5), selected in the Lynx supercluster and in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey/Chandra Deep Field South field; 31 ETGs in clusters, 18 in groups, and 27 in the field, all with multi-wavelength photometry and Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys observations. The Kormendy relation, in place at z ~ 1.3, does not depend on the environment. The MSR reveals that ETGs overall appear to be more compact in denser environments: cluster ETGs have sizes on average around 30%-50% smaller than those of the local universe and a distribution with a smaller scatter, whereas field ETGs show an MSR with a similar distribution to the local one. Our results imply that (1) the MSR in the field did not evolve overall from z ~ 1.3 to present; this is interesting and in contrast to the trend found at higher masses from previous works; (2) in denser environments, either ETGs have increased in size by 30%-50% on average and spread their distributions, or more ETGs have been formed within the dense environment from non-ETG progenitors, or larger galaxies have been accreted to a pristine compact population to reproduce the MSR observed in the local universe. Our results are driven by galaxies with masses M <, ~ 2 x 10 super(11) M sub(middot in circle) and those with masses M ~ 10 super(11) M sub(middot in circle) follow the same trends as that of the entire sample. Following the Valentinuzzi et al. definition of superdense ETGs, ~35%-45% of our cluster sample is made up of superdense ETGs.
The development of a highly sensitive amperometric sensor for nitrite using a glassy carbon electrode modified with alternated layers of iron(III) tetra-(
N-methyl-4-pyridyl)-porphyrin (FeT4MPyP) and ...cobalt(II) tetrasulfonated phthalocyanine (CoTSPc) is described. The modified electrode showed an excellent catalytic activity and stability for the nitrite oxidation decreasing the peak potentials about 200
mV toward less positive values and presenting much higher peak currents than those obtained on the bare GC electrode. A linear response range of 0.2–8.6
μmol
l
−1, with a sensitivity of 0.37
μA
l
μmol
−1 and detection limit of 0.04
μmol
l
−1 were obtained with this sensor. The repeatability of the proposed sensor, evaluated in term of relative standard deviation, was verified to be 1.4% for 10 measurements of 0.2
μmol
l
−1 nitrite solution. Interference caused by common ions has been investigated in simulated mixtures containing high concentration level of interfering ions and the sensor was found to be tolerant against these ions. The developed sensor was applied for the nitrite determination in water samples and the results were in agreement with those obtained by a comparative method described in the literature. The average recovery for these samples was 100.1 (±0.7)%.
The β-decay of the even-even nucleus 70Kr with Z=N+2, has been investigated at the Radioactive Ion Beam Factory (RIBF) of the RIKEN Nishina Center using the BigRIPS fragment separator, the ZeroDegree ...Spectrometer, the WAS3ABI implantation station and the EURICA HPGe cluster array. Fifteen γ-rays associated with the β-decay of 70Kr into 70Br have been identified for the first time, defining ten populated states below Eexc=3300 keV. The half-life of 70Kr was derived with increased precision and found to be t1/2=45.19±0.14 ms. The β-delayed proton emission probability has also been determined as εp=0.545(23)%. An increase in the β-strength to the yrast 1+ state in comparison with the heaviest Z=N+2 system studied so far (62Ge decay) is observed that may indicate increased np correlations in the T=0 channel. The β-decay strength deduced from the results is interpreted in terms of the proton-neutron quasiparticle random-phase approximation (pnQRPA) and also with a schematic model that includes isoscalar and isovector pairing in addition to quadrupole deformation. The application of this last model indicates an approximate realization of pseudo-SU(4) symmetry in this system.
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